Science as a Religion - Searching for the Truth

By Mike Johnson

What could be a more commendable basis for religion than the objective search for the truth by studying His (Her or Its?) massive work - the Universe? How does it compare with conventional religions? Humility and awe arise naturally.

There's little dogma, with no dependence on ancient texts from questionable sources. Beliefs are dynamic and evolve based on experiment rather than authority figure pronouncements. We still make prophecies, called "predictions," but they are monitored rigorously by experimental observations.

Satisfaction comes from the joy of objectively exploring His (Her or Its) wonders, not from promises of an afterlife. Self-exultation is reassessed when we realize that we may be cosmic insects in the scheme of things - one hundred billion or so GALAXIES.

We consider a philosophical thought experiment: Suppose we were intelligent ants living in an anthill in Central Africa. How would the antthropocentric religion put our own anthropocentric religious beliefs in perspective?